Firefighters extinguish Watson Library fire

Books were burning Monday night on the Kansas University campus.

About 10:40 p.m., firefighters with Douglas County Fire & Medical responded to an alarm in the Watson Library stacks. Upon arrival, crews found several books burning, but they quickly put out the fire, according to radio communication.

More information about the fire was not available late Monday.

Estate gift benefits Lawrence Arts Center

W. Wayne DuQuoin, formerly of Lawrence, has donated nearly $80,000 to the Lawrence Arts Center through an estate plan.

Ann Evans, director of the arts center, said because the money had no use restrictions, it would be put into a reserve fund until arts center officials decide how it should be used.

DuQuoin taught design at the Kansas City Art Institute and served as chairman of the advertising design, commercial design and graphic design departments. He exhibited his work at the Denver Art Museum; the City Art Museum, St. Louis; the Nelson-Atkins Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Mo.; the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.

DuQuoin later taught at Kansas University and became involved in programs and offerings at the arts center, 940 N.H. He died May 18, 2003.

Attorney general sues Lawrence auto business

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office recently filed a lawsuit against a Lawrence auto accessories business.

Atty. Gen. Phill Kline said he was seeking $77,000 from Michael J. Jackson and Excalibur Auto Accessories, 2201 W. 25th St., for alleged violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

The lawsuit, filed in Douglas County District Court, accuses Jackson of “deceptive and unconscionable practices” for taking money for auto parts or accessories and not ordering the parts that were prepaid. At least 38 people in Douglas and Shawnee counties allegedly paid for auto parts or accessories they did not receive.

While investigating several consumer complaints against Excalibur, agents with the consumer protection agency and antitrust division found Jackson in Denver recently. He was arrested on Douglas County felony charges and extradited to Kansas.

Meetings to discuss agricultural issues

Residents of Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District will have the opportunity to discuss agricultural and rural issues at two meetings.

The meetings will be at 7 p.m. Monday at the Trails Cafe in Holton and 7 p.m. March 19 in the Sunflower Room of the Pottawatomie County Extension Building in Westmoreland. Rep. Jim Ryun, a Republican, and candidate Nancy Boyda, a Democrat, have been invited to the events, and Boyda has accepted.

The Kansas Farmers Union is organizing the meetings.

Animal rights speech is tonight at library

Animal-rights advocate Judy Carman will discuss “Creating a New Culture of Nonviolence” at 7 p.m. today at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

The McLouth advocate is author of “Peace to all Beings: Veggie Soup for the Chicken’s Soul,” which was named one of the 50 best spiritual books of 2003 by Spirituality and Health magazine. She also is co-founder of Animal Outreach of Kansas and co-coordinator for the Prayer Circle for the Animals.

The free event is open to the public. A discussion and book signing will follow the presentation.

EPA issues deadline for research grant

The Environmental Protection Agency is accepting applications for environmental justice research grants. The grants are designed to support projects that examine environmental harms or risks to a community.

The grants provide financial assistance to community-based organizations in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska through the EPA Region 7 office in Kansas City, Kan. Projects must be for research that will expand scientific knowledge of the subject studied.

Application packages must be postmarked by midnight April 16. For more information, call (800) 223-0425 or see www.epa.gov/oeca/resources/
publications/ej/grants/small-grants-guidance-2004.pdf.

Speech to cover foreign war on terrorism

Col. Tom Wilhelm, professor of Eurasian studies at the Marshall Center in Germany, will visit Kansas University this week.

Wilhelm will present “Central Asian Security on the Frontlines of the War on Terror” at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Pine Room of the Kansas Union.

Wilhelm was featured in the latest edition of The Atlantic Monthly. He is a graduate of KU’s Russian and East European studies program.

The free lecture, which is open to the public, is sponsored by Russian and East European studies and the Foreign Military Studies Office.